Google Slides has been updated with the new Q&A feature that allows the audience to ask questions to the presenter or vote up or down.

Google has introduced new Q&A feature to its Slides presentation program to allow for greater interaction between the audience and the presenter.

With the new features, audiences have a nice little tool to pose any queries they might have pertaining to the subject being discussed, which otherwise would have required them to wait till the presentation comes to an end.

The way the entire feature works has also been kept simple with the host requiring to tap on a button to first turn it on. This in turn provides the audience with a short URL which they get to see on the top of their display on their devices, which can be a smartphone, tablet or a laptop. Members will just have to click on the link to submit their questions though they also have the option to vote up or down on a particular question.

However, there is a 300-character limit in place on the question that users can ask. Users also have the options to pose their queries anonymously or with their Google account credentials. In case of the latter, the Google username and profile image will accompany the question. The idea behind the new Q&A feature is to encourage the audience to ask even if they are too shy to do it personally. This way, audience get to participate more actively in any presentation while the presenter can look forward to a more fruitful interaction and exchange of ideas.

The presenter too will get to have a live feedback of the presentation and adjust the proceedings accordingly if need be. Also, questions with the most number of votes will serve to make the presenter aware about the particular aspect of the presentation that needs to be explained further and so on.

Getting started with Google Slides is also mighty simple as users just need to have the app installed on any smart device. Further, the iOS app too is being updated to allow for presentations to be made via Hangouts along with AirPlay and Chromecast. The update is being rolled out on Android, iOS and the Web.

Meanwhile, Google Slides on web also comes with a new laser pointer feature complete with nice cool effects of its own.